5 Reasons why you need to go see #FindingDory

Disclosure: We were invited to see a prescreening of Disney-Pixar’s new movie Finding Dory. All opinions below are ourown.

Thirteen years ago, Academy Award-winning Finding Nemo was released in theaters, and everyone fell in love with a forgetful Blue Tang fish named Dory. A decade later, Ellen Degeneres, the voice of Dory, had the pleasure to announce to the world on her talk show that there would finally be a sequel to Finding Nemo (clickhereto see that announcement). Three years later and it’s finally here!Finding Doryofficially hit theaters today, and it is sequel gold! Matty and I had the pleasure of seeing Finding Dory earlier this week, and we loved it!

Here’s what you need to know about Disney*Pixar’s Finding Dory:

Disney•Pixar’s “Finding Dory” reunites everyone’s favorite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale?

Disney•Pixar’s “Finding Dory” reunites everyone’s favorite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past.

We’ve got five reasons why we think you can’t miss Finding Dory:

1. Water, water everywhere!

One of the really cool things I loved about Finding Dory is that the animators got every scene with water just right, be it the ocean, a fishtank, a bucket or a toddler’s sippy cup. Thanks to the advancements in technology and computer animation, any scene with water had the right amount of reflections and refractions to make it believable. Supervising technical director John Halstead explains: “RIS, the new renderer, provides a more faithful reproduction of how light actually works in the real world. We can simulate more of the complicated light interactions that happen within a water volume, and how it interacts with the rest of the scene. The result is really compelling-looking water effects.”

2. Friends, Old and New

Fans of Finding Nemo will be thrilled that favorites Dory (Ellen Degeneres), Nemo (Hayden Rolence), Marlin (Albert Brooks), Mr. Ray (Bob Peterson), Crush (Andrew Stanton) and Squirt (Bennett Dammann) appear in this sequel, but they’ll fall in love with new friends too. With the voice talents of Kaitlin Olson as Destiny, Ty Burrell as Bailey, Ed O’Neill as Hank, and Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy as Dory’s parents Jenny and Charlie, Disney*Pixar has once again cast the perfect voices to bring this cast of characters to life.

3. What Would Dory Do?

Dory’s memory loss was a comedic ploy in Finding Nemo, but it’s deeper ramifications are explored more thoroughly in Finding Dory. Dory is truly afraid of not remembering, and of getting lost again. As Dory goes on the journey to find her parents, we learn how she learned to speak Whale and what she can indeed remember. And we also learn that her challenges don’t define her. In fact, it’s her other traits like being an optomistic, friendly problem-solver that make her a remarkable character. Story supervisor Max Brace says part of Dory’s charm stems from her memory loss. “She lives in the moment,” says Brace. “She doesn’t have a choice, really. As a result, she doesn’t over-think things. She’s present and flexible to handle whatever curve ballslife has in store for her.”

4. Piper

Every Disney*Pixar film is accompanied by an exceptional Pixar short, and Finding Dory is no exception. Before Finding Dory begins, the audience is introduced to Piper, who completely stole my heart (Note to Disney: please make Piper merchandise!). Here’s what you need to know about Piper:

Directed by Alan Barillaro and produced by Marc Sondheimer, “Piper,” the new short from Pixar Animation Studios, tells the story of a hungry sandpiper hatchling who ventures from her nest for the first time to dig for food by the shoreline. The only problem is, the food is buried beneath the sand where scary waves roll up onto the shore.

Be sure to get to the theater early enough to meet Piper!

5. Great Family Fun

Finding Dory is a wonderful family film that follows the traditions of its Pixar predecessors. It will entertain parents and children alike, it will make you laugh and even shed a few tears. And in true Disney*Pixar tradition, don’t forget to stay past the final credits!

OFFICIAL BOILERPLATE:

Disney•Pixar’s “Finding Dory” reunites everyone’s favorite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale? Directed by Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL•E”) and produced by Lindsey Collins (co-producer “WALL•E”), the film features the voices of Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton. “Finding Dory” swims into theaters June 17, 2016.